


Just Not the Same

by Sir-Snellby (Tokito_sempai)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating subject to change, at least I don't think so, my first fic here we go, not romance focused, plot heavy, probably not gonna end well, sad stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 08:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3602676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokito_sempai/pseuds/Sir-Snellby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A soft rain poured over the small town of Gravity Falls,softly whispering off of the roof tops and murmuring on the sidewalks and streets. Mabel Pines sat in a small metal folding chair in her great uncle Stan's parlor. She looked out of the window and into the sleepy foggy morning eyes fixed on the pines that towered over the Mystery Shack or on Waddles who sat at her feet,snuffling her leg. Anything but the small box that sat on display,covered in flowers and beside it a picture or her brother.<br/>Dipper Pines was dead."<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Not the Same

A soft rain poured over the small town of Gravity Falls,softly whispering off of the roof tops and murmuring on the sidewalks and streets. Mabel Pines sat in a small metal folding chair in her great uncle Stan's parlor. She looked out of the window and into the sleepy foggy morning eyes fixed on the pines that towered over the Mystery Shack,sagging under the weight of the rain or on Waddles who sat at her feet,snuffling her leg. His nose was warm unlike the chill of the chair. Anything but the small box that sat on display,covered in flowers and beside it a picture or her brother. 

Dipper Pines was dead. 

Her eyes stung, dry of tears that could no longer fall. The rain helped, though she new it was a stretch Mabel liked to think that the rain was the tears of angels or fairies weeping for Dipper when she no longer could. He would have told her that it was just precipitation. It was just the water cycle, nothing magical. He could be awfully scientific for someone who believed in supernatural creatures and ridiculous conspiracies. 

Mabel was alerted of the passage of time by her uncle's heavy hand resting on her shoulder.The light from the window no longer illuminated the parlor, replaced by the warm glow of the fireplace. She looked up into a tired face, aged what seemed like years in just a few days. There was a deep sadness in his eyes, deep and understanding. Mabel opened her mouth to speak but the rough voice of her uncle came first. 

"Look. Mabel, sweetie." Each word was carefully spoken, punched out between tightly drawn lips. "If this is too hard for you-" 

"It's fine." That phrase was the only thing to come out of her mouth since Dipper died, a mantra she chanted to all who spoke to her. Soos, Wendy, and now Stan. They knew as well as she did what a total lie it was but they left her alone afterwards. Surely enough, so did Stan, after giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze he rose from where he sat and slowly departed. Mabel watched him go, shoulders hunched like the weigh of the world was bearing down on him. 

After the heavy footsteps faded toward the back of the shack Mabel faced forward for the first time in hours. Her brother's casket was raised on a table,the only thing viable were the flowers that bubbled out of the box and spilled down the sides. Waddles now lay sleeping under her chair,snoring barely audible over the rain,which had now crescendoed into a downpour, and the crackling fire. Shakily,using the back of the cold metal chair to steady herself,Mabel rose to her feet. Tears already began to well up in her eyes once more as she sucked air into her lungs. sixteen steps was all it took to reach the smooth wooden casket and within it covered in a blanket of flowers was Dipper.   
His face was devoid of color except for the dark bags that always lurked under them. Fluffy brown locks of hair covered the birthmark on his forehead and by Mabel's request his blue pine tree hat still sat atop his head. Really what devastated Mabel the most was how tired Dipper looked. Characters in books and movies always looked asleep on death, but not her brother. Eternal sleep could not escape insomnia it seemed. 

She stayed like that for a few more hours, just staring numb, before Wendy gently took her hands off of the casket and guided her to bed. Mabel had forgot that she stayed after work to help with the funeral arrangements. Wordlessly Mabel allowed herself to be led up the stairs,into the attic bedroom, and tucked under the covers. She was exhausted physically,emotionally,and mentally and drifted to sleep almost as soon as Wendy had wished her goodnight and turned off the light. 

******* 

Thick rain clouds concealed the light of the moon, the only illumination was the flickering letters of a cheap gas station sign. The small building sat alone for miles on a highway, scarcely traversed by any vehicle but the occasional bus. Barely visible from across the road from the gas station was a sign reading "Gravity Falls: Corporation Limit." A small bathroom detached from the main building shook occasionally due to the moaning wind. An ‘out of order’ sign consisting of orange magic marker on printer paper was soaked and barely legible was taped to the door. The door creaked open just a fraction of an inch and from that crack peeked a boy in a hat with a smudged number two on it. Tyrone blanched at the sight of the downpour, heart leaping out of his chest, and slammed the door shut. Retreating back to the opposite wall he sank to the floor in defeat. His stomach swam with nerves and only eating a bit of candy from a vending machine didn’t help. The bathroom ceiling was dilapidated and any second water could leak through the roof and reduce Tyrone to a puddle. He had nodded off a few times, but those brief moments of sleep provided no rest. If he even was sleeping long enough to dream, they weren’t pleasant. They were full of water: rain, pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, any body of water really. Maybe he was hydrophobic, it would make sense after all. A loud blast of thunder shook Tyrone out of his thoughts and he jolted up with a yelp, hugging his knees to his chest. Again his gaze drifted apprehensively to the ceiling, clutching the umbrella he brought for protection. Despite it’s condition, it seemed intact. 

“Ugh, when will this rain just stop!” Tyrone grumbled, banging the back of his head on the cold tile wall. It was horrible, lurking in a probably disease ridden bathroom waiting for the rain to end. He sighed heavily. At least he had a place to go to the bathroom and even though candy wasn’t the best thing to eat at least he had eaten. It was better than some of the situations Tyrone found himself in. On one occasion his hand had melted and he had to keep the fluid in water bottle and pour it back on himself to dry in the sun. Also, Dipper had promised to spend some time with him tomorrow, and that was always good news. Hopefully the rain would let up and dry by then. Thoughts of a better tomorrow floated through Tyrone's head amid the sounds of the storm as he dozed, head lolling on his shoulder. 

Tyrone was awoken by the loud jiggling of the door knob, unaware that he had even fallen asleep and adrenaline snapping his mind alert. He drew a breath in sharply, heart thudding in his chest. Luckily the door was locked, an additional precaution to go with the out of order sign. A voice grumbled, though Tyrone couldn't make out what was said. From what he could tell it was most likely an older man. There was a loud bang on the door, rattling the fragile wood, cracked paint chips crumbling and gathering on the floor. He crept away from the wall and into a corner in line with the door. If the man did come in, hopefully Tyrone could leave unnoticed while the other's back was turned. A moment passed, then another, and the talking stopped and footsteps moved away. Tyrone let out the breath he was holding in and opened the door just a crack. The rain had stopped sometime overnight by the look of it, most of the puddles had evaporated in the day's heat. The summer sun was bright overhead, most likely noon Tyrone thought to himself, stepping out into the parking lot. The area was vacant of any cars, trucks, people, and even animals. After a quick look around Tyrone headed off into the woods and toward the Mystery Shack, which from both his and Dipper's memories he knew like the back of his hand. 

Weaving through the pines, Tyrone made his way toward the shack. There were a few puddles in the shaded area, but they could be easily avoided. The tricky part was getting over the creek. The water was shallow but it ran fast, a deadly spray rising from off of the rocks. It was times like these that Tyrone prided himself in his resourcefulness, after quick survey of the surrounding area Tyrone found a few logs that could easily be rolled for a makeshift bridge. Pushing each into the creek so they lay side by side in the water and reduce the amount of spray that could reach him, Tyrone stepped back to admire his handiwork. The bridge seemed effective enough, and after a few calculations Tyrone deemed the structure safe to cross. With his umbrella opened in front, to better shield any vital areas, Tyrone crossed both as carefully and fast as he could and carried on walking. The rest of the walk was relatively uneventful, and Tyrone let his mind wander, happy to be heading towards a place that almost felt like home rather than random motel rooms and the occasional dumpster. He thought about Dipper too, wondering how he was doing. Their shared mind connecting seemed to have broken when Tyrone melted, which was strange yet welcome. Tyrone was beginning to feel like his own person rather than just a clone. 

The Shack soon came into Tyrone's view and he picked up his pace, the sooner he arrived, the better. Nearing closer however he noticed it was starting to seem unnaturally quiet. Stan's voice didn't ring out, greeting tourists. Mabel's voice wasn't present either, screaming in excitement about one thing or another. Tyrone frowned, hunching his shoulders and walking down the drive toward the door. The place seemed empty, not entirely unusual as some days business could be slow but still suspicious Tyrone looked around for more signs as to what was going on. 

Stan's car was gone, that was off. Tyrone knew the shack should be open, Stan would never close early on a Saturday, that was when most of the customers showed up. Maybe it was at the shop or something, it was always breaking down without Stan crashing it into everything anyway. Sure enough though, when Tyrone walked up to the gift shop door the sign read 'closed.' It didn't make any sense, something must have happened. Something big or important and the thought filled Tyrone with dread. He lifted up the doormat and fumbled with the spare key underneath. Three tries and he unlocked the door, greeted by the sight of an empty gift shop. An empty, unlit gift shop. On the busiest day of the week. 

"Hello?" Tyrone called out, small voice sounding much larger in comparison to the silence of the house. "Grunkle Stan? Dipper?" He left the gift shop and into the living room, also dark and also empty. The only place left was the attic or some of the miscellaneous rooms in the Shack but those seemed awfully unlikely given that all of the lights were off. Each of the rough wooden steps groaned and squeaked under Tyrone's weight as he climbed them, the silence amplifying the noise. The attic was dark, like the rest of the house, the only light coming from the triangular stained glass window that bathed the room in a menacing red glow. Walking up to the door to Dipper and Mabel's room he was again greeted by the same emptiness as the rest of the house, confirming that there really was no one home and that something was most certainly wrong. The lack of any shoes furthered to prove that, Tyrone observed as he sat on Dipper's bed, kicking his feet and looking around. 

There was nothing to do really except wait for everyone to get back, maybe once they did it would just turn out to be some ridiculous misunderstanding. Leafing through books, he passed the time, always careful to make sure any of Dipper's bookmarks stayed in place. Nothing was worse than having to skim through the pages to find where you left off or even worse to accidentally skip ahead and spoil something good. Tyrone sat there just reading for while but something struck him. The journal sat on the bedside table,haphazardly placed on the edge of the table and left open. Setting the mystery book he was reading down, Tyrone shut it and pushed it further on the table. Another mystery, Dipper made sure to keep the journal on him as much as possible and if he didn't have it on his person it was always hidden. Tyrone was alerted to the sound of the car pull up, the loud old engine muffled by the window. He scrambled off of the bed and peeked out from the glass. Stan slowly exited, feet dragging and looking more worn out than Tyrone had ever seen him. He could see Mabel too, slowly coming up to join Stan. Her face was unreadable, gaze firmly fixed on the ground as Stan held he hand and led her inside. Dipper was nowhere to be seen. 

Tyrone sat back on Dipper's bed once the two were out of sight. Everything was off about the entire situation and now Dipper was missing. Whatever was going on couldn't be good, Tyrone was absolutely sure of that now. He could hear the door close and every footstep up the stairs sunk his heart even further into his chest. They were slow and heavy, thudding like a funeral dirge. The door opened with a loud, drawn out creak and Mabel walked in, her face tired, eyes red, face pale. She looked sick, exhausted, anything but her usual cheerful self full of glitter and candy. Mabel looked up, her eyes scanning the room before snapping to where Tyrone sat.   
Mabel's eye's widened, wandering Tyrone's face as an expression of horror and confusion took over her own. 

"Dip...per?" She whispered in a broken voice. It was hoarse, sad, and almost hopeful. Tears welled up in her eyes as she searched Tyrone's face and his heart gave a painful squeeze. "No." 

"I-I can explain!" Tyrone exclaimed, suddenly finding his voice. Never had he seen Mabel this angry, never before had he been looked at with such absolute hatred. 

"You're supposed to be dead!" Mabel's voice ripped out from her as she grit her teeth. 

Tyrone was, he really was supposed to be dead. He should still be a puddle of ink on the roof of the shack, or dried up with only a light stain left. Swallowing thickly, Tyrone tried to explain the current situation. It never had even occurred to him that she had no idea Dipper cloned himself aside from his arm. 

"I-I dried up!" He cried, scooting backward on the bed. " Where's Dipper?" 

Apparently he stuck a nerve, because now Mabel was lunging at him. He tried to roll aside, but she was faster. Her hands grabbed his shirt collar, knuckles white and fists shaking as she pulled his face inches from hers. 

"Why aren't you dead?" She hissed through her braces, wet eyes burning. 

In all honesty Tyrone the very question was the exact same that kept Tyrone up at night, wondering and worrying. 

"I don't know..." he mumbled back, still incredibly confused as to why Mabel was so angry and why she was avoiding his question. He tried again. "Maybe Dipper kno-" 

Mabel's hand came over his mouth. She looked away this time, biting her sleeve as choked sobs died in her throat. 

"...He's dead..." She whispered, rough and harsh with grief, taking her hand off of Tyrone and wiping her eyes, tears immediately replaced with a fresh wave. "He died two days ago..."

**Author's Note:**

> Well there you have it folks,first chapter for the first fic I've ever written! Let me know how it's going:too long,too short,is it crappy or ooc,the whole shebang!  
> oh and be sure to drop by my tumblr for news or questions! sir-snellby.tumblr.com  
> constructive criticism is always appreciated!  
> Stay tuned for sad


End file.
